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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 7688907" data-attributes="member: 177">And I have no problem with that.  It was stated more like it was assertion of fact, than matter of taste, though, and that's what I took issue with.I think you're putting far too much focus on the idea that we're taking some cues from scripted fiction.Let me try it this way - we play games that are "epic fantasy" and "science fiction" and "noir" and "steampunk" and "urban fantasy" - these are *all* genres of scripted fiction.  We borrow tropes and themes from scripted fiction all the time!  There's not a lot of difference between having a game in which a fighter can fight, or a mad scientist can produce mad science effects and having a game in which a top-notch investigator can act like one.  Each type calls for a different set of mechanical supports.But, this has nothing to do with "scripting".  In a D&D game, there may be a BBEG, with a plan to do something nasty, and the PCs choose to try to stop the plan, and work their way through the maze-like dungeon to reach the BBEG and do something about him.  The way they reach the BBEG is not scripted, but the PCs have a set of tools at their disposal (in D&D, they are mostly combat-related), and it is reasonable to figure the players will use those tools.  You don't expect the fighter to have any real problem dealing with any individual goblin, though.  In GUMSHOE, the PCs have different tools.  The maze isn't of physical walls*, but of information.  The path isn't scripted, but you expect the PCs to use the tools they have to work their way to it.  And you don't expect the investigator to have any problem finding any individual clue.In neither case is actually getting to the BBEG and dealing with them assured, or a foregone conclusion. *Usually.  We are focused on mysteries for the moment, but there are science and adventure procedurals as well, and in those a physical maze could well come up.</blockquote>

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